The Strength of Friendship
by DarkmanetheWanderer
Summary: This is my first ever fanfiction, and I'm not sure how well it will be. Anyways, the events relayed in this are based on true events, though they have been altered to fit within the Equestrian Universe. There will be intense scenes of psychologically disturbing material, as well as some violence. You have been warned.
1. A Simple Beginning

_Authors note : This is my first ever fanfiction, and I'm not sure how well it will be. For referencing and imaginations sake, all characters portrayed in this piece are anthropomorphic(human-like in body type) Anyways, the events relayed in this are based on true events, though they have been altered to fit within the Equestrian Universe. There will be intense scenes of psychologically disturbing material, as well as some violence. You have been warned._

It was a cold, winter day in Ponyville, and a large majority of the inhabitants were out playing in the snow, both young and old. One lone mare broke this trend, and that mare was a Miss Twilight Sparkle.

She was inside her home, working feverishly to finish her report on friendship to be able to send it to the princess before the day was up. Unfortunately for her, the wind kept blowing open her window, sending her work scattering throughout the room.

Ordinarily, she'd ask Spike to hold it closed for her while she worked, but she had promised him today off, after having worked him long and hard for the previous year, and told him the only thing she would ask him to do today would be to send her report.

She sighs lightly as the window blows open yet again, and she gets out of her seat and heads over to it, closing it. She loved this old library, but was really getting annoyed by the fact that none of the windows had locks on them. _'Maybe I can ask Big Mac to put some on soon…'_ she thinks to herself as she heads back over to her desk.

Just as she sits down, the door bangs open, and Spike walks in, closing and locking the door behind him. He trails in a fine layer of snow, a bit of it resting between the ridges of scales upon his head. He is shivering heavily, and barely manages to say "hey twilight." Before he makes his way over to the fireplace.

Twilight looks at him, hesitant to ask him to do any work for her upon seeing how worn out he is. Eventually, her kindness wins over, and she brings him a blanket. "You rest for now, I'll let you until I'm finished with my letter, then I'll make you a nice, big cup of cocoa. Would you like that Spike?"

He nods slowly in agreement, pulling the blanket closer of his shivering, snow-covered body. Twilight bites her lip, then uses her magic to light a small fire in the fireplace, before quickly heading back over to finish her report.

Half an hour later Twilight is finished with her report. She looks over her shoulder at Spike, who is fast asleep at the fire place. She hesitates for a split second, then gives in, and walks over. She gently starts to shake his shoulder, whispering, "Spike…Spike…wake up little guy…I'm going to need you to do something really quickly, then you can go right back to sleep ok?" She says, as her shaking slowly awakens the baby dragon.

"Ugh…five more minutes…." He says, turning over a little.

"Come on Spike…just send this one letter and you can go right back to sleep. Pinkie Promise." Twilight says to him, nudging him again.

"Fine…" he says a bit darkly, as he sits up. "Where is the letter?" He asks, looking around, before spotting the letter in Twilights hand. "This one?" he asks, pointing at it.

"Yes please." She says, handing it to him.

Spike takes it, and then breathes a quick bout of green flames, as the letter dissolves into ashes, which float up into the air and disappear. "Can I go back to sleep now?" He says a bit irritably.

"Yes, yes you may." She says, petting the top of his head, and walking back to her desk.

Within minutes of her walking away, Spike begins dry heaving. After a few minutes, he belches up a large bout of flames, singing the carpet and spitting up a scroll. "Huh…Celestia doesn't usually respond this quickly…or at all…" Twilight says, as she gets up, holding spike lightly, who is still groaning in pain.

After a few minutes he calms down a little. "It's ok twilight….I'm fine now…" he says, sitting up. "If you say so…" she says, as he gets up and walks back over to his blankets by the fire. "Yea…"

Twilight nods, and picks up the scroll. "I'll see you in the morning then spike" She says, as she walks over to her desk to read the message. She reads most of it, nodding lightly to herself, until she reaches the end of the message. When she reads the last line, _'…and I'd like you to work with your friends to perform this task,'_ is when she gasps, and drops the letter in shock at what the princess is asking her to do.


	2. An Alarming Wake-up call

Twilight stumbles backwards, falling into her chair, her heart pounding and mind racing over the prospect of what her teacher was asking her to do. How in equestrian would she be able to convince her friends to willingly be thrown in prison for her?

She takes a deep breath, and sighs heavily. "I need to get some sleep…maybe I'll think of some way around this in the morning…" she says, hopelessly. She slowly climbs the stairs and climbs into her bed.

She lay awake for hours, her mind pondering all sorts of different things she could try to get out of doing this, each one more desperate and futile than the last. Eventually, her eyes give out, and she falls into a heavy, restless sleep.

She is awoken by the sounds of large wings beating outside her window. She opens her eyes, only to see Princess Celestia herself. "Princess?!" Twilight nearly shouts, gasping loudly as she stumbles out of bed into a heap of blankets and covers on the floor.

Celestia invites herself in with a cursory glance down at her, not responding immediately. "I sense you're having doubts about partaking in this task…" she says, with an accusatory glance towards Twilight.

Under the firm gaze of her instructor, Twilight feebly backs up against the wall. "Y..yes…I don't know how…how I'd be able to get my friends to willingly do it…and…it doesn't really sound all that…practical to do." She says, trying to think of anything to excuse her treasonous thoughts.

"Hah…practicality is in the experiment itself. We need ponies who are close to one another, otherwise we won't be able to accurately examine them in the testing facility. Would it make you feel any better if I told you no harm shall be forced upon them?" celestia says, stilling gazing sternly upon Twilight.

"I…I suppose…" twilight says, before sighing deeply. "I'll do it your Majesty…." She says, hanging her head. 

"Good. Now, here come a few of your friends now." Celestia says, her gaze lightening as she looks out the window, where Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, and Fluttershy can be seen walking towards the library. "And twilight, I do apologize for my firmness today, you must understand this is a vital experiment."

"I understand. I'm sorry for doubting you." Twilight says to her, as she looks up.

"Good. I expect to see you all in Canterlot on the date posted in the scroll. Until then, Adieu." Celestia says, nodding at twilight, before teleporting out of the library in a bright flash of light, just as Twilight can hear the door opening up downstairs.


	3. Comfort of Companions

Twilight goes over to her mirror and quickly fixes herself up. She washes her face for a few minutes with some cold water, trying to wash away the bags that had formed under her eyes from lack of sleep.

"Twilight? You up?" She hears Apple jack call her from downstairs. "Yea, I'm here girls. Just finishing getting ready is all." She calls back, running a comb through her hair, before taking to the stairs. She dashes down them rather quickly, and comes to a halt when she sees her three friends waiting for her down in her foyer.

"Hello girls…might I ask what brings you here?" She asks, putting on a fake smile, doing her best to make her voice sound light and happy so her friends don't suspect anything.

"Uh…well…the princess…Luna…visited us last night in our dreams…tellin' us that we should come and see y'all first thing in the morning. She said you'd be able to explain a bit more. I admit…the whole thing was a might…suspicious…" Apple jack says, taking a few steps back from her friend, noting her awkward behavior.

"Guh…." Twilight sighs, hanging her head. "Yes…there is something I have to ask you girls…but…it involves all of you. It can wait for when we next see Rarity and Pinkie, can't it?" she says, a little hopefully, looking up at Rainbow, Apple Jack, and Fluttershy.

"I…I guess we can wait for them…but I don't see why we can't…." Fluttershy began, before twilight exclaims, "Great! I'll see you girls then…" before she quite literally teleports them out of the library, and falling back against the wall holding up the stairs. "I bought myself a little time…since I will have to do this…maybe I can think of a way to do it without hurting them to much." She says to herself, slumping her head, as she begins to think.

Around an hour later, there's a knock on the door, soft and light, and Twilight gets up to answer it. Looking through her window, she sighs, seeing all five of her friends gathered outside her door, Rarity in front, a look of worry on her face. Twilight bangs her head lightly against the door, then pulls it open. "Hey girls…come on in…" she says, standing out of the way as her friends file into the living room.

"Twilight." Rarity begins, "We're all quite worried about the way you acted this morning…some more than others." She adds, as she looks over at Pinkie Pie, who seems engrossed in staring at the bubbles forming in twilights ink jar.

"Look, just tell us what the hay is going on so we can get out of your hair and let you fix whatever the problem is!" Rainbow interjects, as she looks over at Twilight.

"That's just it girls…this isn't a problem in the traditional sense…its an…experiment…and the princess wants me to get your help to do it." She says, sitting down, nearing the verge of tears.

"Aw…is that it sugar cube? We'll all be glad to help you in whatever sorta experiment it is, right girls?" Apple jack says, walking over and gently patting Twilight on the back.

"Yup!" All the other girls respond in unison. "Now, sugar…what kinda experiment is it?" Apple jack says, looking down at Twilight with kind eyes.

"That…is going to be a long explanation…" She responds, looking up at her friends slowly.


	4. Lockdown

_Forwarning: There is going to be a lot dialogue in this chapter, most of it exposition_

So Twilight begins her explanation. "Alright girls…we're…we're going to be going to a prison. Most of what I've been told is that its supposed to test the strength of our friendships…seeing how well prisoners and guards will react with each other in the most extreme of circumstances. She…she being Celestia…knows how well we've reacted under stressful situations before…so she picked us for this job. I have no idea when we'll be escorted there…or where exactly there is. I just know that we'll be separated from each other, half of us to be acting like guards, half like prisoners. We are to treat each other like guards would treat prisoners, and…from what the letter told me, if we are soft, or do something that is deemed wrong in the eyes of Celestia…well, the consequences will be…consequential…" She pauses, and looks around at her friends, to gauge their reactions.

Fluttershy, being shy and demure as she is, is hiding out behind Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash, who, like Rarity, have looks of utter shock upon their faces. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie is still watching the bubbles form in the ink, completely oblivious to everything Twilight just said.

Finally, Apple jack speaks up, letting out a long whistle, releasing air from her lungs. "Wowie…that…that certainly is…a lot. Are you sure there's no way to change Celestia's mind about this?"

Twilight shakes her head glumly. "No…I can't. I would have tried when she came to me this morning…but she seemed…different. So firmly placed in the idea that this would work…and could help…it was so different than I'd ever seen her before, I couldn't bring myself to question her on it…"

"Its fine Twilight, we understand. Lets just hope we have a good amount of time to prepare before we…" Rainbow starts, getting cut off by a blinding flash of light.

When it clears, they're all in a large white room, which appears to be some sort of cafeteria or auditorium. The ceiling is high, and the lights are bright, nearly blinding. When the girls eyes adjusted to the light enough to see each other, they gasped. No longer were they in their nightgowns. Rarity, Twilight, and Apple Jack were all wearing blue uniforms, walkie talkies and batons strapped to their sides. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie pie were all dressed in simple orange jumpsuits.

A few seconds after this realization, a calm, powerful voice sounds over the intercom. "Hello there, I'm quite sure you're all surprised at the choice of time that I brought you hear at. All I have to say is that guards are to report to the left exit, and prisoners to the right. Anyone to disobey shall be punished. That is all." The voice shuts off to static, leaving the girls in silence, as two metal gates at the end of the room open up.


End file.
